Vacating

I'm seriously on vacation but I thought I'd stop by for a minute and try to make up for last week's Hot Guy Friday installment that I missed.

There is absolutely nothing happening in my life that I can share. And I don't mean that to be mysterious. It's just boring. I'm sleeping and reading. I went shopping the day after Christmas, and those sales were insulting. This economic problem we're having is getting ignored by the retailers. They had dick on sale last week.

But I wanted to continue the old guy theme on hot guy Friday and spotlight Michael Biehn.

Have a Happy New year!

I'll be back on the 5th.

Merry Christmas

cranky update

They've really pissed me off this time. I came to work for a "couple of hours" and left after 90 minutes cause they'd screwed things up so badly and then expected me to fix them, that I decided they needed the lump of coal that is "Fix it your damn selves."

THEN I look at Towleroad.com to find THIS:

-"Richard Cohen's editorial in the Washington Post gets to the point, quite well, I think, attacking Obama's failings as a moral leader. Here's the end of it:"
"I can understand Obama's desire to embrace constituencies that have rejected him. Evangelicals are in that category and Warren is an important evangelical leader with whom, Obama said, 'we're not going to agree on every single issue.' He went on to say, 'We can disagree without being disagreeable and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans.' Sounds nice. But what we do not 'hold in common' is the dehumanization of homosexuals. What we do not hold in common is the belief that gays are perverts who have chosen their sexual orientation on some sort of whim. What we do not hold in common is the exaltation of ignorance that has led and will lead to discrimination and violence. Finally, what we do not hold in common is the categorization of a civil rights issue -- the rights of gays to be treated equally -- as some sort of cranky cultural difference. For that we need moral leadership, which, on this occasion, Obama has failed to provide. For some people, that's nothing to celebrate. The party's off."

I would also like to ask how it is that Melissa Etheridge, an entertainer, has become the gay barometer of what is right and what is wrong. Love your music, most of the time, Melissa. Your opinions you can keep. I'll get my own thank you.

I've got a new hero in Richard Cohen though.

And now for a glass of gin.

It's 5 o'clock in New York! No,wait it's only 4:10.

Close enough!

Bah!

"I have many gay friends. I've eaten dinner in gay homes. No church has probably done more for people with AIDS than Saddleback Church," he said in a recent interview with BeliefNet. But later in the interview, he compared the "redefinition of marriage" to include gay marriage to legitimizing incest, child abuse, and polygamy.-(Rick Warren)

And we all know AIDS is strictly the province of those nasty boys who spread it. What a dick. Let him speak at the inauguration. It's perfectly right in my estimation. I think it's a really good way for Obama to say, "Hey, I NEVER told you I was going to pander to your wishes. You made that shit up in your heads like y'all did everything else you laid on my campaign. So, don't bitch at me."

Cause he didn't, and you all did make that shit up in your heads.

Rick Warren, however, will not be consuming any meals in my home anytime soon. Obama? Well, he can eat me. But then again, I've always said that.

I should have stayed in bed today.

Yesterday I got a new furnace. Joy.

Today I get an email asking me if I can come to work for just a little while to get some things taken care of.

I should have said no.

I walked into a mess, and they already regret it. I've yelled at every single one of them. They're all hiding in their offices at this point.

Bah! and Fucking Humbug!
on the
Incompetent goddamn Bureaucrats.

Happy Holidays!

For THAT I'd go to Mississippi.






Continuing the old guy theme I started last week today I thought I'd look at a little blast from the past, Robin Segal.

Fact of the matter is that in high school I dated a guy who looked a lot like him. I still have his picture. And no you can't see it.

But Robin, or Robby as he is still more affectionately known was everyone's favorite whether they admitted it or not. He made 18 films between 1973 and 1980. And he wasn't yet 30. So he had to be popular in more places than in my fantasies.

I just had to include a picture of Robby as Billie Joe McAlister, that infamous fictional little gay boy from Mississippi. It took me years to figure out why I liked that song so much, but then again I was 10 when it was released.

And that cowboy get-up...my my.

Happy Hot Guy Friday!

BTW I've discovered that there is a blogger in D.C. who has this very same feature, with exactly the same name. I suppose duplication in the blogosphere is inevitable. I'm sure his existed before mine, so sorry if there's any hard feelings.


Love

Question

I copied this quote from another website. Outsports I think it's called.

At some point the blogger and his husband were in a public hot tub and talking with some woman about being gay and married and to "prove it to her" they kissed.

First, how is that not stupid. Second, how is what she said not offensive.

“I’m okay with that,” she assured us. We thanked her and assured her that we were fine with it, too. She laughed.
“You know, I know lots of people like that. I wait tables, and there’s lots of ‘em. And I think it’s fine.”


I know lot's of people like her too and I am decidedly NOT ok with THAT.

The presumption that I would need her approval of my life is completely offensive.

The statement about there being "lot's of 'em. And I think it's fine."

Well thank the Gods she does. I'd never have made it through my life without that nod.

I suppose I will have to practice tolerance this time. Cause Gods know, tolerance is about the best I can muster for crackers like her.

And those two who indulged her. Well, I hope they come through town on their trek west so I can slap them both.

Screwing the Pooch

Rick Warren?!?!?!

Seriously?

That's perhaps one of the most divisive decisions our President-elect could have made in this particular era. It fulfills every misgiving I had about the guy from the beginning.

Rick Warren's website says:

"The Church is everywhere in the world." (part of the problem)

"More than 2 billion people claim to be followers of Jesus Christ." (Because they don't know any better.)

And then this one I just loved:

"The Church is everywhere in the world. There are villages that have little else, but they do have a church. You could visit millions of villages around the world that don’t have a school, a clinic, a hospital, a fire department, or a post office. They don’t have any businesses. But they do have a church."


Read-"They're kept homeless, sick, stupid, destitute,and incommunicado. Therefore they're perfect followers of Jesus Christ."

Reading further I discovered this hopeful little tidbit:

"Since we believe the Bible is God’s Word, we already know the end of history. Jesus said in Matthew 24: “The good news about God’s Kingdom will be preached in all the world to every nation, and then the end will come.” It is inevitable and unavoidable."

This is good news? Once everyone "accepts Jesus Christ as their personal savior." (which means you get to let yourself off the hook for every shitty thing you've ever done) THEN we all get annihilated!

Yippee!!

I can't wait!

Where the fuck do I sign up for annihilation. Oh, wait that was George Bush's administration.

As usual I missed my chance.

I can see it now. A set of enormous bus tires coming right at all those blind little gay boys and girls who so stupidly ran right out and voted for this guy who, like every other politician, bullshitted them into voting for him. Well,at least they won't see it coming.

They never do.

Loathing the Season

Why do so many gay men hate themselves? This is vehemently denied by most, but their actions speak louder than their words. They deny their feelings, they sabotage relationships, they deny themselves love, and it can only be because they deem themselves unworthy.

I have to wonder if it’s a trait peculiar to my generation, or if it’s a theme throughout gay history. Were it peculiar to my generation I’d certainly understand. We lost many many men and it was their propensity to bond with others that got them lost. So to deny oneself love as a survival technique I can understand. It’s not entirely logical, but I’d get that.

To deny oneself love because one had been taught from an early age that they were unworthy of love of any sort because of WHO they love, that I’d get too. We’re all told in many ways that we’re not worthy of any love, and we begin to believe it after a few thousand tellings, so it too wouldn’t be surprising. It truly is a tough world out there so it’s always so important that we look at ourselves, though imperfect, as worthy.

Here are a few of the tools I’ve personally seen employed by gay men:

Blame: This is a great little tool to keep everything in a negative light. Blame someone. Find something you don’t like, something that’s wrong, or just something out of place, and lay some blame. It’ll make you feel so much better about yourself to know there really IS a bad guy and that they’ve accomplished what they set out to do. To PISS YOU OFF. Because, it IS of course, all about you.

Making bad decisions on purpose: Excellent! Another really good way to keep yourself down. This supports the mindset “I’m going to fail, so why shouldn’t I make sure that I do. That way expectations will always be low for me and I won’t actually have to try very hard."

This strategy unfortunately overlooks the fact that lack of success takes a LOT of work.

I deserve this life that makes me miserable: There is some parenting mindset that makes it ok to remember and dwell only on the mistakes your child has made. And to remind that child how inconvenient they were for you. That child, however, needs, at some point to grow up and accept responsibility for themselves and learn that the bullshit laid on them by their idiot parents isn’t really who they are and certainly not who they have to be. It just takes work. Also, taking responsibility, which we American’s are not fond of. Just look at the Oval Office.

Anyone who dares to care about me must be made to pay: “I’m worthless, I’ll always be worthless, and any fool who dares to look at me and see a human being with value is REALLY gonna get it.” Rather than embracing this chance at improving self-esteem by seeing oneself through the eyes of another, and learning that we do have value, many choose to lash out and chase the offending carer away. “Shoo! Don’t you dare love me.”

Hurt first: Being the one to inflict emotional pain first certainly gives one a sense of power. Of course it’s counterproductive to the cause, but hey a good juicy knife in the heart to a loved one has no peer.

Now, it’s possible that they could use some of these very tools to turn things around, but they never seem to discover this. They always want to go to the dark place, and keep themselves trapped in that loveless and hopeless place that “everyone else put them in.” because there always has to be a bad guy.

I understand that no one is immune to these behaviors. I was personally acquainted with a man for almost 50 years who is so full of self-loathing that he thinks that things make him a better person. In fact he sold his house and moved to a better neighborhood in an effort to impress a woman who he wants to marry. The mindset being, “If I get this house and live in this neighborhood, I’ll be worthy of being loved cause I’ll be like her. And being on the same economic level as she is makes me a better person.”

Sad that someone as old as this guy (85) is so shallow as to think that, but he does. And he’s not alone. I’ve had two men in my life who I’ve cared for deeply who are so convinced of their own lack of value that they will go to any length to keep others from getting close.

I waited for many years (34) for one to come to his senses, and finally, thankfully, before I myself succumbed to the vagaries of time and died, I came to my own senses. The other I cared for, and still could I think, but he too is determined to live a life filled with misery and blame. So I had to turn my back on those relationships and seek happiness elsewhere.

It seems though, that self-loathing is the province of gay men and women the world over. It’s often their raison-d’etre.

In the spirit of the season I challenge those of you who aren’t debilitated in this way to reach out to those of your acquaintance who are.

Identify at least one person you know who lives in that unholy place that keeps them down, and challenge them in some way to live a happier life. They’ll never thank you for it, but do it anyway. It’s the right thing to do.

Speaking of which, that’s all one can hope to accomplish in this day and age, to do the right thing. I’m not personally much of a believer in that whole birth of the Savior thing. But the spirit of the season is certainly worth an indulgence don’t you think?

Help one of your fellow men grow emotionally out of Junior high.

They’ll blame you for it.

Calling Phillip Morris!!!

Hey! Oklahoma! Don't delete that christmas card from the email address you don't recognize. Open it.

A view this morning across Theis mall.

I love the first real snow. It's always so pretty and it's so quiet. I love it right up until I get in the car to go to work.

Dear God!

After sitting through the second light from home five times I decided that the main streets were not the way for me. I took a little detour and got here in record time without incident...knock wood. I felt sorry for those who were forced to take the highways and main streets today. They SUCKED.

Had I been smart I'd have faked an attempt to make it in and then called and said "can't make it." Alas I wasn't that sharp today.

I used a service for the first time this year to send out Christmas cards. Unfortunately, I didn't think the procedure through and merely copied my address book into the "send to" box, and didn't edit. So I sent holiday cards to a couple of people I didn't mean to. They're on a list, just not for happy holiday cards. Ah well, I'm spreading the love. Screw them.

I've just noticed that though I've enabled labels for my posts that I have to assign them. That's odd. I'd think blogger would do it for me.

So far this morning I've given medical advice, estate planning advice, mechanical advice, computer software advice, and driving advice. I should charge a fee.

Love

How could I not know this?

Van Johnson was gay.

Well, well, well.

I suppose I actually did know this, I just never really cared that much about it. But it's interesting to know that people's secrets all come out eventually don't they?

It reminds me of that old rumor about Danny Kaye and Lawrence Olivier. After I heard it I could never look at Olivier's pictures again without thinking.

Danny Kaye!?!?!

I suppose where the heart leads is a mystery. I have this feeling I may be about to find this out firsthand soon. Oy!

Pensive

I'm REALLY not in the mood for a Monday. I'd rather it were Wednesday instead, or Thursday, anything but Monday.

This weekend I was busy busy busy. ALL the Christmas shopping was done in one swell foop, in one store. God bless Best Buy. And that cute little guy who waited on me, getting things down off the upper shelves, only to have me say, "um, no that's not what I want" and having to get back up there again and totally aware I was ogling his butt all afternoon.

Hey, I was spending a bunch of money on other people, I gotta get something out of the deal.

Then I had my annual pottery party. Oddly enough I sold everything this year. I was very surprised given the current economic climate, but as someone said while they were looking around, it's the year to give practical gifts. So my current love of bowls and pitchers paid off. Small matter in the economics department though. It'll all get plowed back into fixing the broken wheel, and buying more clay and chemicals for glazes. It keeps me in my favorite hobby so it's all worth it.

It's 4 degrees this morning and I am not pleased. I hate the cold. The car hates the cold. The apartment hates the cold. The electric company loves the cold cause my furnace is on A LOT! And it isn't supposed to get any better any time soon.

I've heard a lot of good talk about Milk, so I want to see that one day soon. I don't really understand all the fuss about James Franco though. And for me not to get fuss over an Italian guy is saying something. He's a cutie, I get that, but skinnyyyyy!


Is he doing what I think he's doing? I'll never understand youth. Shaving what little they got. That boy needs a good meal.

And Tom Cruise is on his ass kissing tour of the media. "I came off arrogant."

No Tom, you were arrogant. You were more yourself in that interview than you are now, I believe. This new, touchy-feely Tom is the guy who needs his movie to do well. Which, though it's possible, I doubt it will actually draw the crowds. Especially with it's revisionist theme. Nazi who totally loves Hitler, right up until Hitler starts to lose the war, then decides he has to be killed and makes a mess of it. What makes this a sympathetic character? Why would I want to watch this movie? It's a movie about a guy I don't care about, screwing up a thing he only wants to do cause the other guy isn't evil enough. And it stars Tom Cruise. Pass.


I read this blog from time to time about this guy who came out in his 20's while he was married, and had two kids. But as it's progressed he's become this self-involved little queen who sates one guy after the other and just can't understand why he can't find love. The ex-wifey and the kids have not been mentioned in a LONG time. So, now I wonder if they ever even existed. There are days I wonder if everyone on the internet is using their anonymity to take the opportunity to make up lives they really don't have.

Well, go get one! It's not really hard. Of course, you do have to put forth some effort. Something we Americans aren't very good at anymore.

Or, you could just keep making yourselves up and let us all wonder at the holes in your story over the long-term.

So, have a nice week, remember Christmas is in 11 days. Stay warm.

Love

Practice makes perfect

This looks like a man who's dodged a shoe or two in his day. He knows how it's done.

God I love those fuckin' Iraqi's!

And now for something you'll REALLY like!

I do feel like Rocky the flying squirrel this week. I've been zipping around from one job to the next and in between doing the things I need to do to prepare for the next round.

BUT!

I am finally done!

Grades are posted, jobs are done for the year, that shopping I was lamenting the other day must actually take place.

I really haven't done anything about Christmas. No cards, no decorations, no presents...nothing, nada.

So I'll be doing it starting tomorrow. I hope the stores, as broke as they are, will be open early tomorrow so I can get out before there are...people, and get my shopping done.

I've got most of the decisions made, and right now those that I don't know what to get will get gift cards. Unless I really get the Christmas spirit and decide to shop for them. My sense of humor must be returning. "Shop for them," lol, what was I thinking when I typed those words?

(a side note) I started this whole thing on another blog when I opined that "without further adieu," didn't make sense, it should be "without further ado." All I was doing was asking a question and everyone sort of went...well, fucking nuts.

SO! Without further ado:

Here's our Hot Guy Friday! old guy, Dennis Quaid.

How is this possible? I never looked this good when I looked this good.

WTF??

I've no idea what happened to this week. I've given two finals, which means I still have to finish grading them and post grades by tomorrow night at 5. I've taken two finals, and, well who really cares what those grades are?

I've been dismayed a LOT over the fact that, at least in my world there seems to be a great deal of noise being made over discrimination that doesn't really exist. People at work are playing the race card over issues that exist only in their heads. People in the media are having a field day exploiting the gay civil rights issues we are facing. And all the while Rome is burning.

We're losing jobs quicker than you can say ACLU, and no one seems to notice. I suppose it won't matter to them until it's them losing their jobs, and then you'd better look out cause they'll scream bloody murder. It seems everyone is cutting their staffs by 7-10-14%, and what are those people going to do for income I want to know?

I want to know cause even after 4 years on this job I wonder everyday if I'll be on the short list when the time comes for government jobs to be pared back. The signs are there, subtly, but there nonetheless. Yesterday we were told that a program that has been in place since 1992 to provide for those who work Sundays was gone, pfft.

The thing that unsettles me is that the very week we got notice of a hiring freeze we hired three or four people. All in departments other than mine, and though I am not the last person hired in my department I am the least documentedly qualified person in the department, well, not counting this other guy who is less qualified than me but has been here two years longer, so I'd be out if it were to come to that. Fingers crossed, cause I'd be fucked in about 90 days if it were to come to pass.

Anyway, tomorrow is Hot Guy Friday and I didn't want you to think that even though I am incredibly busy I would forsake you on the most important day of the week.

I'll try to be original and innovative but give me a fucking break here. I'm swamped this week ok?

Love

Bah Humbug!

There's Christmas shopping in my immediate future. Oy!

They're playing Christmas music at work.

And there's a tree.

Make it stop!

Hot Guy Friday

Thank the Gods it's here.

The drive in was harrowing so I'm all outta sorts this morning.

Then bureaucracy strikes with minor silly frustrations. And I am soooo glad I chose Jensen Ackles AGAIN for HGF!

He's a repeater, but he's worth it. Since we can't seem to figure out what to do with all the possibilities in our ever expanding comunications network, outtakes are becoming more popular than ever and I saw one recently in which this guy seems to truly enjoy his job.

Today however, we're gonna truly enjoy him.



Love

Coming of Age

SURVEY: Education and Income Played Big Role in Prop 8 Passage-Towleroad.com

It appears that stupid poor people cost gay men and women their civil rights in California last month.

COULD WE PLEASE STOP LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO PIN THE BLAME ON????

It amazes me that America suffers so profoundly from Hypegiaphobia. (fear of responsibility)

Grow the fuck up!

When we are able to stand up and say, "Ok, well, we fucked this up folks. We should have been out there every day educating those stupid poor people, and converting those evangelicals to our way of thinking, but we just never considered the possibility that Prop 8 would pass. Sorry, maybe the Supreme Court will fix this thing."

Then, and only then, will we truly be worthy of shouldering the responsibility of the civil rights we're fighting so hard to keep. And they do carry a responsibility!

We live like a bunch of teenagers wondering where our next approval fix will come from. Instant gratification and complete acceptance and approval are the only things we know. And certainly the only things we're interested in.

I say stop whining, get out there and demonstrate your ass off, insist that you are a viable member of society, refuse to accept less than your civil rights, and act like an adult while doing it.

I have to wonder if the impending economic depression won't mend some of these societal ills. When a lot of us, hopefully not me, will be standing in line for soup and wondering where it all went wrong will we finally say, "Oh! It was that part where I skipped merrily along with my credit card and my overpaid job thinking that my mortgage wouldn't explode and my credit would be ever expanding all my life and nothing would EVER be my problem. That's where I went wrong."

Everything is your problem!

From the drug wars in Juarez, to Global Warming, to Economic collapse, to the Israelis and Palestinians, to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his uranium, to Iraq, to people being executed for being who they are, to bigotry, to ignorance, to poverty, to the potholes in the road on your way to work.

It's all your problem.

Now, yes, you have to choose your battles and fight them wisely, but choose! Please! We've got some pretty difficult obstacles in the road ahead, and we MUST start facing reality.

The current administration is sacking the treasury as we speak, and they're doing it in full public view. They're telling us all that the people that they don't approve of are second class citizens, and enlisting the help of organized religion to do their dirty work. And they're going to walk away with all our money and leave us in a cultural shambles with absolutely nothing to show for the last eight years but a big hole in the ground on the south end of Manhattan island.

There is little we can do about all that. But we can be heard. We just have to stop acting like children first.

-We're apparently so desperate for role models that we're now using fictional gay couples to solicit donations for worthy causes.

Project Holiday Spirit has begun a fund drive for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS again this year, and they're honoring that non-existent couple Luke and Noah on some soap in the process. If you're going to give money to a charity this holiday season, this is one of the most important. Actors have very little money and their health insurance is dependent on how much they work, which is usually very little. So any help you can give this organization is important. Last year they "...contributed over $35,000 to 10 different charities in less than 12 months..."

So follow the link and pony up for those who really need it.

phs.vanhansis.net (ok, so the link won't work, but you can cut and paste.)

All that said, tomorrow is Hot Guy Friday, and I DO get to be a kid while picking out the images. Love that!

Update:

Now THIS bastard you can blame.



"San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer, who is slowly being revealed as the chief architect of organized religion's opposition to same-sex marriage in California, has issued his first statement since the vote.

"Religious leaders in America have the constitutional right to speak out on issues of public policy," Niederauer wrote in a statement posted on the archdiocese's Web site. "Catholic bishops, specifically, also have a responsibility to teach the faith, and our beliefs about marriage and family are part of this faith."
-courtesy of Joemygod.blogspot.com

Harsh mistresses

When I got out of the car at the college last night I saw this. It was a beautiful clear night and I took a picture of it. No one really noticed the old guy out there with the cameraphone taking pictures of the night sky, it's a college campus after all, we prof's are supposed to be somewhat eccentric. And thank God, cause it allows us all kinds of freedoms.




Then I realized how beautiful the sky was as the sunset and I took a picture of that as well:



They're not as clear as they could be and I don't have photoshop here to fix them, but you get the general idea. It was a gorgeous night in the midwest sky.

I was somewhat less enchanted though when I got home later and found out I'd received THIS in the mail:



Ugh!

And this morning, feeling better than I did yesterday, I was able to get all enraged and righteous about Crystal Dixon. She's the former Human Resources Vice President at the University of Toledo who is filing suit over her termination regarding her editorial in the local paper expressing her opinion that we mo's should not be marryin'

I really truly try not to comment on stories I see on the internet, it often invites conversation with people whose meds are in need of adjustment. But this time I just couldn't help myself, someone called her an academician and I just went off my purty little head.

To which I replied:

Let's understand that Ms. Dixon IS NOT an academician. She is in a classified support position, and though, yes, her status as Vice President of Human Resources would indicate that she has had some exposure and interest in ideas that challenge her own. A natural curiosity in exploring those opinions is apparently lacking in her evangelical dogmatic approach to her "understanding" of the homosexual "lifestyle."

I truly feel sorry for people who are so narrow minded as to hold such foolish opinions. But to give them voice, well, that's just demonstrable ignorance I have no tolerance for.

Yes, a true academician would have supported their position with facts and examples of studies etc. But a true academician would not be sitting behind a desk in admin all day. They'd be standing in front of a class challenging their students to think for themselves, to explore the world, to state their opinions forcefully and with documented facts.

Ms. Dixon is just an employee,who is simply repeating what she's been told over and over again. Let's not assign her more importance than she deserves. It just gives credence to her bigotry.

I just know I'm gonna get mail.

naps are wonderful

I got a second wind so I thought I'd read a little news. Big mistake...HUGE.

Much is being made of the CEO's of the big three automakers magnanimous offer to work for the remarkable sum of $1 annually if the government loans them 25 billion.

Let's just look at this a minute.

Alan Mullaly, President and CEO of Ford Motor company, for example, made 21.2 million dollars last year. This package, as far as we can ascertain, contained $2 million in cash, and bonuses of over $7 million. For WHAT? The damn company lost over $8 billion dollars in the SECOND QUARTER of this year alone! I can't imagine what he gets if the company MAKES money.

But back to his salary totalling $21.2 million. Let's assume that his stock options, which make up a large part of the package actually wind up being worth something when he goes home for good.

If he makes $21.2 million a year and you divide that by the full time equivalent of 2080 hours, he makes in ONE HOUR what I make in a quarter.

And they say they can't make it because of health care and pension costs.

Am I the only one to see that this is bullshit?

I'm going back to bed.

kids! ain't they grand

I'm outraged all over again about Prop 8, and it's supporters. I'm trying my best to ignore that android Donny Osmond and his obnoxious statements. How many gay dollars has he fed those kids with?

Anyway, there was this croupy kid at the store last night that kept coughing on me every chance he got, and since we arrived at the same time he had plenty of chances. The child, of course was way too young to know not to cough on people. His mother however, was not.

I'm going back to bed.

I'll rail at Donny tomorrow.

Maybe

Returning to IT!

I'm caving to pressure here, I don't normally observe World AIDS day, it's just a little too much for me. But someone made a good point, and I've chosen to honor those I've known and lost to it.

To them I need to say, Thank you for being part of my life, and know that I miss you every day.



I almost forgot to post the most important item today. It's our last visit to the freaking amazing 2008 ancient egyptian popup calendar. Which, by the way, I still love. I guess I'm going to have to find one myself and buy it for 2009.
Thanks Prince, I loved it! Most fun calendar ever.

"There were celebrations over the weekend in rural Ariel, Wash., to recall the country's most famous unsolved hijacking. Thirty-seven years ago, a man known as D.B. Cooper seized a jetliner, received a ransom and parachuted out somewhere over southwest Washington. He disappeared along with most of the $200,000 in cash." NPR.ORG

I heard this story this morning on NPR on the way in. I think the funniest take on the whole thing was what I call the trans theory.

It goes like this:

D.B. was a woman who had gender reassignment surgery, carried out the hijacking as a man, parachuted into the wilderness, changed clothes to be a woman again and simply walked out without question.

I'm sorry, I really tried to come up with witty quips for this one, but...well...come on.

Last week was wonderful. Rode everyday except Saturday and Sunday because the weather SUCKED both days. I'm hoping for better weather this weekend.

Made a bunch of pots. And as I wrote that I realized I forgot to cover that pot currently on the wheel drying for trimming. Oops.

I really started to get into the nap thing. THAT invention was just for me I swear.

This morning a set of Ken Russell DVD's were in my mailbox when I got to work. I was reminded of this guy I went to college with who had a minor part in Crimes of Passion so I looked him up to be sure I still remembered it correctly. I did, but when I read his message board I saw several messages from people who went to college with him trying to get his email address. By the other names this person dropped in their message I knew them too!

Is it me or is this odd?

I didn't dislike this guy, but we weren't close, and I have no real interest in tracking down someone I knew for a few months almost 30 years ago in some...what... some attempt to renew acquaintance? I'd think we're very different people by now at our age.

I don't know, it just seems a little creepy to me.

Thanks.

I was going to do a thanks list.

I was going to post a long missive about how lucky I am.

I was going to post some pictures of the Thanksgiving ride.

But in the end I decided that it's best if I just say thanks.

I am lucky, my life is pretty good,and though I could take the time to list all those things here, I'm choosing to go engage in them today, as many of the things that make me happy and thankful, as possible.

And in so doing I'll be saying thank you.

Be safe and well, and have a good Thanksgiving.

Love

Tuesday and I'm bored already

For my blogger friend Nick in Australia I thought I'd give a demonstration of what can happen when one takes a pottery class. And this is just one! There are boxes of these things everywhere.

You've been warned Nick.


You may have noticed that I don't comment much about tv here. That's because I don't watch much tv. Most of my friends are sporting wood over the new season of 24, and though I do adore Kiefer Sutherland, I doubt I'll watch. Since I've only seen like two episodes of 24 in my life I doubt it'll have much impact.

But I've noticed an increase in the number of cat video's on the internet recently and I felt compelled to jump aboard the pop culture bandwagon, at least for a little while.

Speaking of jumping aboard:

Roomba Driver @ Yahoo! Video

AND! My Hot Guy Friday post of NPH was propitious. Here he is in almost all his glory on How I Met Your Mother last night.






Bought the fixin's for Thanksgiving Dinner last night. What the fuck happened to the price of food???

I could have bought those tires I need instead and been much happier about my waist on Monday.

Update:

I'm including two links to Towleroad.com today. They've got an article on the residents of Silverton OR who ran the Westboro Baptists outta town. WooHoo!

And the second is about everybody's favorite alien, Tom Cruise. I can't think of anything funnier to add to what they said at Towleroad so here it is.

Hey! What about me?

James Franco is apparently kissing men all over the place.

Now I'm not above getting a little smooch from a youngster.



And God knows if he'd kiss David Letterman...well.

As you may have noticed I'm not feeling very serious this week. I'm free until next Monday so posts will be few and far between. I'm off to ride horses. Something I think I'll do every day, weather permitting.

I saw an installation of various pots with a similar shape that had all been glazed in shades of green. I might try something like that, sounds like fun this week.

God knows I've got nothing else to do.

Love

It's hot guy Friday!

Yes I know, it's almost cliche to like Neil Patrick Harris, but I can't help it. He seems so genuine and I'm always drawn to people who have a good time just being themselves. He seems to be one of those people we let get away with anything. He can be on Sesame Street one day, and the next talk to Howard Stern about him and husband Greg Burtka switching it up in the bedroom. Then appear as a pseudo-playa in How I Met Your Mother, the following Monday evening. Plus, as I am reminded, be Dr. Horrible, and appear in Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.

So, really how can you not like a guy who can be so comfortable in his skin. And who has such nice skin at that!

There's that rage again

I just read that the CEO's of the Big three automakers flew to D.C. in private jets to beg for money. In truth I'm not that enraged, because it's so fucking funny.

We're such dupes, and we elect the biggest boobs to represent us that it's laughable. Who, in their right mind, would agree to give money to someone who could easily afford a 20k flight to come and ask you for it?

Us.

I know the auto industry is one of the pillars of our economy. I know it needs overhauling. I know we won't do any of the things it needs doing because we just bailed out the banks and the mortgage industry and now we're going to fix the auto industry.

They can't sell us cars, so they're going to extort the funds out of us.

I drive an American car. I have driven one for 15 years. It is not by considered choice that I do so. It is rather that I drive my cars until they cannot be driven anymore and then get them as quickly as possible to the nearest dealership that will give me affordable payments.

I would have bought that Toyota I looked at if that dealer had been closer than the Dodge dealer was.

Even though my education, my home, and yes even my clothing and food were paid for as a child with American carmaker dollars, I still have no loyalty to them. They've screwed the American public time and again with their substandard shabby goods and then refused to back up their crappy work. They've screwed the American worker time and again by insisting they can't afford to pay the wages and benefits they've already agreed to thereby gaining concession after concession and all the while subjecting their workers to the minimum of safety and health requirements on the job.

In fact, I remember distinctly, a conversation my father had with my mother about a suggestion he was thinking of submitting regarding the design of the 1964 Thunderbird. He thought that since they were going to have the rectangular tail lights that it would be cool if they blinked in sequence toward the direction the car was turning.

After submitting the suggestion he received a notice from the company that though it was a thoughtful suggestion he wasn't allowed to submit design suggestions since he didn't work in design.

Now, I am the first to admit that the man is a bastard and though I will likely be denied the opportunity to see him in a box I will take some solace in the knowledge that I won't have to suffer him again.

But I'll let the car speak for itself here:



I'm certain the foreign carmakers have learned their trade from the creators of the model, and that though they may have other methods, that they're not markedly different. But ours invented the system, that now does not work, and they refuse to learn to change, and furthermore they expect us to pay for it again.

Kinda nervy, don't you think?

We'll save them just like we saved the banks, and we'll pay for it, and we won't be able to fulfill a lot of the dreams some guy put in our heads because of it. And the Republicans will have won another one.

Oh! I meant to mention something my brother said last weekend.

But first, let me qualify this mean-spirited little missive by saying I love my brother. He stood up when it counted and taught me that not only are things that have been done to me wrong, but that I do have worth and value as a human being, and he gave me back my self-confidence when I had the slightest grasp on it.

However!

Saturday I was talking to him on the phone while browsing through the headlines on MSNBC.com, and while he was talking I blurted out 53,000 LAYOFFS AT CITIGROUP! HOLY SHIT!

And he said, "Yeah, can you believe it? And they're going to blame Bush for the whole thing!"

With wisdom I didn't even know I possessed, I changed the subject.

Just for fun

Oh! How I wish I could be in that receiving line.

Prestidigitation

One of my visitors in the past 24 hours came here by conducting a search for Cooper's Corridor.

Now, I've no intention of dredging up blogosphere crackpots and their exploits. It really was a shame that Cooper didn't exist, and i prefer to think that he does, in some form, just not the great image we'd all bought from Jo the crazy.

But it made me wonder how and why someone would go to the trouble of creating a fake persona to present to the blogosphere, and the world. That can't be easy.

Sometimes, like maybe today, I find it difficult to come up with the energy, the interest, the rage, whatever it takes that day, to come up with a post. I can't imagine the amount of time it might take to find a ready-made post that could even conceivably be used as one's own. That person needs a job.

I will say that I have had my share of run ins with the internet crazies. I've had comments that were so deluded as to be nonsensical, I've had others take my emails and post them in an effort to hold me to public ridicule, they, of course knew nothing of my "family" so their attempt at ridicule fell totally flat. But there is an element of protection one must always keep in mind when talking about personal stuff on the internet. That very same person accused me of hiding behind a computer. They're obviously so crazy as not to need to fear anyone or anything.

I do tell personal stories, but I usually change names or just use initials or refer to people with pronouns etc.

I started out with my real identity on my profile, and after reading about others experience with such honesty I went back and changed some details, omitted others and left what I thought I safely could.

I re-read some of the comments left on Joe My God about Cooper's Corridor and thought to myself that it must be pretty easy to get caught up in a blogosphere existence. If one has the time.

I choose to go outside everyday and live my life. You know, like interacting with...people...and stuff.

I'm quickly coming on the season I like best, the holidays, when I get a break from virtually everything. Next week is mine, and then two weeks at Christmas. I'll lay about, read a lot, ride a lot and probably make some pots. There'll be some socializing, it IS the holidays after all, and I'm staying in town this year.

I'm feeling some guilt about not being involved in activism locally so I might...and I say might put out some feelers in that area, we'll see. If it's still the same old people, doing the same old thing, or worse yet, new ones doing the same old thing, I may just pass and let the youngsters carry on. I'd like to get involved again though, I think I still have things to contribute.

Oddly, there I feel I can drop my anonymity and be an identifiable voice. Sad that the blogosphere can't provide that.

Where are we going?

Are we headed for a race war?

Are we so blind that we'd rather divide ourselves and fall than see that it doesn't matter who voted for Prop 8 and the other three hate amendments around the country?

Are we so unfocused in our rage that we'd rather look for someone to blame than to set about using constructive ways of getting back our civil rights. And by that I DO NOT mean we should subscribe to that asshole Solomnese's methods of "being nice."

Rather I mean that we should stand up, be counted, not allow anyone to trample on our rights. Which, yes means that we will have to be outspoken and take risks in an already risky world. We may lose jobs, we may lose position, we may lose "friends."

But these are calculated risks one must take if we are EVER to be counted as equals in the eyes of the law.

This means just what I said, "in the eyes of the law," not the people. We will never be wholly accepted in the eyes of all the people, just ask any person of color.

I get the fact that our struggle is unique, that we haven't been forced to sit in the back of the bus, nor use separate facilities, etc, but we do have a struggle, and it's not really with a scourge like institutionalized racism.

It's with the scourge of Christianity.

I am constantly dumbfounded that many African Americans, who are normally sane, level-headed people would fall for a scam like organized religion. Particularly when that very scam is the primary mechanism that was used to maintain control over their enslaved ancestors! It makes no sense to me that people can rail against a system while at the same time embracing one of it's most basic and horrific tenets.

Last night I watched a co-worker wend her way in the back door for a job responsibility that she could have had if she'd just asked. But she felt compelled to play the race card, which was moot since there already is a racial mix in the job she's not getting any more money to do. Now, I get that it means something about self-respect and getting ahead. But where is the integrity if she had to force her way into it?

And where is our integrity if we have to come in the back door(no pun intended) to our equal rights?

Where do we then find the self-respect that we hold so dear, or at least should, if we hang our heads and then take whatever crumbs are offered by those who already have and enjoy their civil rights.

Europeans aren't exactly welcoming Americans with open arms when it comes to immigration, but it IS possible And I have to wonder if it's worth a try since the institutionalized discrimination created, and liberally enforced in this country by organized religion, would never be tolerated there.

The struggle for civil rights does not belong to one group of people. It doesn't belong to African-Americans, to Jews, to Muslims, to Women. It belongs to all of us!

It's not apparently our birthright though. Even though I'm a middle-aged, (ahem) white male I can be denied my civil rights just because of who I love. Because of who I love!

Does that make any sense?

Does it make any more sense than being denied my rights because of the color of my skin? Or because of who or what I worship?

I keep thinking of my personal position on cinema. That films that are violent shouldn't be as readily available as films that show graphic sex. That two sweaty people wrestling in a bed are much more appropriate viewing for ALL AGES than two sweaty people wrestling over a gun in an alley.

Christianity has everything to do with these "mores."

The imposition of the Hays Code on the motion picture industry is a perfect example.

The following are excerpts from the Wikipedia entry on Will Hays:

"Hays attempted to reduce studio costs (and improve the industry's image in general) by advising individual studios on how to produce movies to reduce the likelihood that the film would be cut. Each board kept its "standards" secret (if, indeed, they had any standardization at all), so Hays was forced to intuit what would or would not be permitted by each board. At first he applied what he called "The Formula" but it was not particularly successful. From that he developed a set of guidelines he called "The Don'ts and Be Carefuls." In general his efforts at pre-release self-censorship were unsuccessful in quieting calls for federal censorship...

Ironically, Catholic bishops and lay people tended to be leery of federal censorship and favored the Hays approach of self-censorship; these included the outspoken Catholic layman Martin Quigley, publisher of Exhibitors Herald-World (a trade magazine for independent exhibitors). For several months in 1929, Martin Quigley, Joseph Breen, Father Daniel A. Lord S.J., Father FitzGeorge Dinneen S.J., and Father Wilfred Parsons (editor of Catholic publication America) discussed the desirability of a new and more stringent code of behavior for the movies. With the blessing of Cardinal George W. Mundelein of Chicago, Father Lord authored the code, which later became known as "The Production Code", "The Code", and "The Hays Code". It was presented to Will Hays in 1930 who said, "My eyes nearly popped out when I read it. This was the very thing I had been looking for."

Now just exactly who was it that wrote the Hays Code? Why it was those hypocrites from the Catholic Church of course. I recall a copy of this being posted prominently in the library of my elementary school in the early 60's. I also remember thinking then that it made no sense to me.

So let's not let religion, race, nationality, immigration status, nor any other thing divide us. Let's stand up and say that civil rights are for ALL PEOPLE, regardless, and put no further qualification on it. Let's put religion back where it belongs, in the hearts and minds of people who want to learn to love and include all of their human brothers and sisters in their lives. Who want to embrace all beliefs, and all forms of feeling and love. Not to use hate and fear to rule by intimidation. That's nothing more than fascism. Let's return to upholding the "values" this country was founded on. That all men are created equal.

Then we'll truly be a democratic society.

Where ya been?

Slow start today. I fell off my horse yesterday and though I'm fine I thought it a good excuse to take a day off. Like I need an excuse.

Hmmm. Where to begin.

Well I guess I should just start.

Friday I went to friends for cocktails. That was my first mistake.

I've mentioned the dreaded ex here previously, and mentioned how incestuous that whole relationship is.

I think it bears repeating that at 51 I should and do know my limits. Some do not.

I had two martinis and then we ordered dinner. After which I intended to have a hot tub and then go home. It turned out to be only me and my friend as the other two weren't capable of joining us.

I'm hesitant to go into any sordid detail because the ex embarrassed himself enough without my help.

BUT!

Suffice it to say that someone is completely out of control and headed for a huge crash.

Now if I were stupid, and history has not proven that I'm not...

If I were stupid, I could step up and get right back into that situation if I chose.

Of course whatever is about to fall on him would then likely miss him and hit me, that's how it usually works in my experience.

The smart money is to have a few coherent thoughts on the issue:(which were in short supply Friday)

1.) If you love me so much where the fuck have you been for five years?

2.) I find it interesting that when you were employed, had a new condo, a new car, and money in your pocket, my phone never once rang. Now that you're unemployed my stock is suddenly rising.

3.) I also find it noteworthy that you have to get falling down drunk to say kind things to and about me.

The words, GET LOST! keep coming to mind. I don't know why.

What's the word I'm looking for?

oh yes...

Anyway!

My upstairs neighbor has turned out to be a squirrel who has not one, but two entrances into my attic. Eviction notice to be served shortly.

Very happy with all of you who "protested" Prop 8 etc this weekend. But I'm not quite sure you get the idea of civil disobedience. It's not a coffee klatch.

I suggest you look up the word disobedient and then try again. But good show.

Love

Not learning

I'm seeing the term witch hunt all over this morning. And that must stop! I've seen what witch hunts do, and it's not pretty.

We cannot win a victory we can celebrate in this civil rights struggle if we're driving people from our midst just because they disagree with us. The lady who owns El Coyote Restaurant? Boycott her, don't burn her.

The director of Sacramento's Musical Theatre? Boycott him, don't burn him.

The director of Find's LA Film Festival, should NOT be terminated over his political beliefs.

Where does this retribution end if we don't stop it in it's tracks right now?

The hate cannot be perpetuated. These protests and searches for who donated to what need to stop if we can't then use that information in a constructive way to open a dialogue with our detractors to attempt to get them to understand that hate is NOT the way to make this right.

We need to learn from their mistakes and not use the massive availabiity of information to in turn discriminate against those who would do exactly that to us.

I suppose we need to be Christian about it. Rather we need to be what Christians purport to be about it.

Are there battles to be fought and won? You damn betcha.

Are witch hunts the way to accomplish that goal?

Never!

It is incumbent on us to have and utilize a better moral compass than those who blindly chose to deny us our rights.

You have to ask yourself if this is good for the struggle when you think to react as they did. If the answer is no, and in the case of witch hunts it always is, then DON'T DO IT!

Non-Violent yes!

Vindictive?

No.

The Catholic Church who also had a hand in this debacle is comprised of the most vengeful, vitriolic, vicious, venomous bunch of hypocritical bastards the world has ever seen, well, except for the Bush administration, and we cannot be like them if we expect to win a victory that will allow us to hold our heads high.

If you're going to march down the street in protest, if you're going to fight in a board room for your beliefs, if you're going to use your financial power to effect change, do so with your head held high, and know that if there is a judgement to be placed on the heads of those who hate it isn't yours to make. Let them answer to their own God for what they've done. Make them answer to you for their duplicity.

Those darn Catholics

What will they think of next. Apparently some Catholic Priest in South Carolina, (ahem)has so much time on his hands that he's sat around until he's come up with yet another bizarre Catholic idea. Deny Parishoners communion because of how they voted.

For those of you who don't know, communion is a pretty big deal, it's name is just what it suggests, it's to signify communion with their God, and they NEED it. Like a vampire needs his blood. So for him to imply that he'd rather they abstain from receiving it is in no way a small rebuke.

"A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil..."

I put in a link in case you want to go check out the source. I didn't go to some obscure secular devil-worshiping site to find this story. Well,that may be over stating it a little. It's off the front page of msnbc.com.

This is the extent to which people are being ruled by their irresponsible clergy. I'm trying to think of a way to get people to start thinking for themselves and stop relying on their priests and ministers to tell them how to vote.

A woman in Los Angeles who apparently runs a restaurant frequented by a gay clientele (El Coyote) donated a lousy $100 to her RLDS church's request for funds to pass Prop 8, and she complied. This 100 bucks is about to cost her most of her livelihood since they found about it and are none too happy she took their money and used it to screw them. How did she express her remorse for her duplicity?

"I have to do what my church tells me."

Moron

Now I know there are responsible clergy. For example,, Father Geoffrey Farrow,late of a Catholic parish in Fresno, who came out to his parishioners in the midst of a witch hunt in his organization, which cost him his job and likely his position. I haven't heard anymore about him, figures. He's destitute and exiled, no longer newsworthy. However, his destitution and exile are exactly what makes him newsworthy in this puritanical era. People need to see what happens to the subjects of their scorn AFTER they're done metaphorically burning them at the stake. Maybe then they'd think twice before becoming the new John Proctor.

In fact I personally know a member of the clergy, and though we're not in as close contact as we have been in the past, I know him well enough to be sure that if he's counseling his flock on their vote at all he's advising them to vote their conscience, making them think for themselves. A welcome rarity in this pyre-building culture we've cobbled together out of the unknowing and lazy.

In researching Father Farrow I stumbled across his blog. You gotta go there, I didn't get to read much but it sounds like he's dishing some great Catholic dirt. I know what I'll be doing until martini time.

Have a great weekend, enjoy Hot Guy Friday, be good(it's really all you got), and be safe.

Love

Hot Guy Friday!

The weekend is here and I can't wait for that martini tonight.

In the meantime I'll just gawk at these nascar hotties.

Sorry about the template, I got comments back, but man is it ugly.

This is the result of editing something someone else wrote and not doing it very well, I blew up the last template and had to choose this monstrosity for a short-term replacement. You'd think I could just reload the old template and things would be fine...weeelll.

It'll get better soon.

More thoughts

I was just reading about James Hood and George Wallace.

Hood had this to say about Wallace's actions in 1963 during his 1998 address at the University of Alabama.

"When Hood came to speak at the University in February, he mentioned his reconciliation with Wallace. Wallace said his actions were to please the people in 1963. He told Hood he was now a Christian and recognized the equality of all people.

"All people were equal in 1963, too," Hood said during his speech."

And today as well.

And on a completely personal and unrelated note I'm including this picture that I found on towleroad yesterday which could have been taken from the bedroom of my apt in San Francisco, minus the pink letters of course.



I just found this on another blog, very funny:

1. It's important to have a man, who helps at home who cooks from time to time, cleans up and has a job.

2. It's important to have a man who can make you laugh.

3. It's important to have a man who you can trust and who doesn't lie to you.

4. It's important to have a man who is good in bed and who likes to be with you .

5. It's very, very, very important that these four men do not know each other.

Can I get an Amen!